Should you buy the 32 GB or 64 GB new Apple TV?

The new Apple TV—technically Apple's fourth-generation set top box—comes in two models with two different flash storage tiers: 32 GB and 64 GB. That's because the new Apple TV also comes with an App Store and a way to download software, including games. So, is 32 GB enough for you to save a few bucks, or do you really need to spend a little more and double down on 64 GB? Let's find out!

Price per gigabyte

The new Apple TV comes in two models at two price points:

32 GB for $149

64 GB for $199

That's different than the usual low-, middle-, and high-end strategy Apple and most other vendors usually use. And it means you can just take the center, you have to choose one of the sides.

If we break the prices down per gigabyte, we get the following:

32 GB for $149 = $4.66 per gigabyte

64 GB for $199 = $3.11 per gigabyte

So the 32 GB Apple TV has the lowest absolute price, but the 64 GB has the best overall value per gigabyte.

On-demand vs. local storage

Apple never wants you to try to download an app, find out your Apple TV storage is full and have to tell you to delete apps or content before trying your download again. So, they're using "on-demand resources" for the Apple TV to intelligent manage the local storage on your behalf.

It works by downloading only the content you need immediately and keeping the rest offline. Then downloading new content while simultaneously deleting old content.

For example, when you download a new game, the App Store could only include the first five levels and keep the rest ready and waiting on the App Store's servers. As you complete level three, the App Store could download level six and remove level one. Then download level seven and remove level two, and so on.

In other words, as new content comes in, old content goes out. So, an app or game may vary slightly in size over time as you use it, but you never have to store all of it at once.

That means you don't need enough space to store all your apps and games, only to store all the levels and other material you want to use frequently.

If you only ever play a few games, use a few apps, and watch a few movies or shows at a time, 32 GB of storage should be enough to keep what you need local. If you play a lot of games, use a lot of apps, and watch a lot of movies and shows at a time, you'll want 64 GB.

Photos and music

Gone are the days when you had to sync over all the photos and music you wanted to keep on your Apple TV. Now iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Music Library + Apple Music uses a similar approach to on-demand resources. All your recent and frequently accessed content is cached locally so you can look at or listen to it quickly, while infrequently accessed content is left on the cloud and available for re-download or streaming at any time.

The same is true if you use other popular photo or music services via their apps. They'll keep most of your content in the cloud and stream what you need, when you needed, with some level of cache to keep the more recent and important stuff local.

If you only look at a small subset of your photos on a regular basis, and only listen to the same group of songs or playlists, you'll likely still be fine with 32 GB. If you want much more content available much faster, you'll be better off with 64 GB.

Bandwidth vs. cache

Another point to consider is how much bandwidth you have. Apple TV will cache content on the flash storage, so if your bandwidth is low, you won't have to worry about re-streaming or re-downloading content you use frequently. The more storage you have, the more room you have to cache that content.

So, if bandwidth isn't an issue for you and you can re-stream or re-download as often and as much as you like, you might be fine with keeping only up to 32 GB available at any time.

But, if bandwidth is an issue and you'd rather keep as much cached locally on-device as possible, you'll be better off with 64 GB.

Who should get the 32 GB Apple TV?

If every dollar matters, if you stream most of your content, and if you play, use, watch, and listen to only a small subset of games, apps, movies, shows, and music on a daily basis, then you should be just fine with 32 GB. Your Apple TV will manage thing so that it stretches absolutely as far as possible.

Who should get the 64 GB Apple TV?

If the extra $50 isn't a big deal, if you want to cache as much content as possible, if you play, use, watch, and listen to a wider range of games, apps, movies, shows, and music on a daily basis, then you'll enjoy having 64 GB. Your Apple TV will still get the most out of it for you, but it'll have even more to work with.

Still can't decide?

If you're still not sure about 32 GB vs. 64 GB, jump into our Apple TV forums for extra help. Personally I'll be going for 64 GB since I'm okay paying $50 more for the extra space. And I'm interested to see how much of it I'll end up using. Once you know what you're getting, tell me what and why below!

Reader comments

Should you buy the 32 GB or 64 GB new Apple TV?

So is the thinking that Apple will be coming out with new versions every two years like the iPhone and iPads? if so then the 32GB might work for those who want to upgrade often. I just bought a 32Gb but before I even got home I had 2nd thoughts and am thinking I am going to return for the 64GB. As others have said its hard to know when you don't really know how much space each app will take or what your really going to end of doing with it.

I got the 64 but kind or regret it. There aren't that many apps available and I've only got a handful on the device. It doesn't store movies or music locally so it is hard to see how I would ever get close to 32 GB.

yeah I was thinking I might not use all the space but as someone told me the technology is new and developers cant get new apps and content out fast enough. I assume like with any new console it will take off soon. so it doesnt store any movies and music on the console? what about pictures? if that is the case I cant see that I would ever have that many just apps on it. I'm still torn.

well I went back and got the 64GB and see what people are saying about having more than enough room. I've loaded just about every app I will want for now and have TONS of room left. Unless they come out with a ton more apps in the next few years I wont use anything close to 64 gigs.

I get all the responses for the 64 (biggest and best for me, no matter what) but I really don't see a compelling reason for the extra storage. I have an iPhone 6+ with 64 and it's not full. Nor is my 64gb iPad.
I'm going with 32gb to give this a shot (and add it to my other 3 3rd gen ATV's). If it's great but not enough storage, I'll move it to another TV and get the 64Gb (hopefully next gen 4k version at the same time :)

I've ordered the 64 GB edition. I'm not a huge gamer… but I do not know what I am going to do with the Apple TV in the coming years. No clue which apps I am going to use in a few months, no clue how much space they are going to take. So to be sure… I got the biggest one.

Good article, but one point worth clarifying. I own one of these boxes (32GB dev) and have written on-demand resource code.

"For example, when you download a new game, the App Store could only include the first five levels and keep the rest ready and waiting on the App Store's servers. As you complete level three, the App Store could download level six and *remove level one*. Then download level seven and *remove level two*, and so on." [Emphasis added]

Resources don't get actively removed or deleted quite like that. Think of it like a browser cache, but for everything on the box (app data, photos, movie chunks, screensaver, etc.)

If you need level six and have plenty of empty storage left on the box, nothing is removed. The developer can't keep a lock on level one, but the next time the code asks for level one it is returned immediately from the storage cache. No waiting.

Alternatively, if you need level six and the AppleTV is "full", what gets removed is not level one you were recently playing, but older or less frequently used content on the box. Maybe a game level from another game you haven't played in a couple months.

In other words, the resource cache is smart, and removes least recently used content. Developers can't guarantee that their older content is still on the box, but unless it has not been used in a long time it probably is.

Keep in mind, though, that content is often bigger than people expect. Example: those neat screensavers are 600 MB. I'll be getting the 64GB unit for personal use.

I am assuming that there will be NAS access by app, to stream movies. My ATV2's are long in the tooth and would be nice to retire them. At any rate, there should more than enough memory in the 32GB for streaming but I will go for the 64GB now ... while the Canadian dollar is still worth something.

@Rene
What about iCloud Photo Library? Has is been confirmed or even hinted at that this aTV will support iCPL? (Current gen does not, to my knowledge)
This could be a deciding factor for capacity- if your iCPL is large, one would be better off with the 64Gb option since the "near-line" thumbnails could easily take up most of that space.

Out of all the questions I've been contemplating about 32GB or 64GB, it never dawned on me to actually do the math. I'm amazed I never considered it. Thanks for doing the math though, now I know it's $4.66 per gigabyte on 32GB and $3.11 for 64GB.

Hi Renée ... question: what exactly do you mean by "at a time" as in "watch a few movies or shows at a time" vs. "watch a lot of movies and shows at a time"? Do you mean marathon 'butt-numb-athon' viewing sessions?

I don't anticipate playing games or using apps, but I do watch a lot of TV & movies probably 4 hours a night, possibly double that on a cold winter Sunday ......

I will be getting 2 of the 64 GB Apple TV's. Why two? One for the living room and another for my media room. I will eventually replace my previous gen Apple TV's in my bedroom and office with 32 GB models of the new Apple TV. I am getting the 64GB models for my living room and media room because while 32 GB is probably enough, I don't want to find out later that I need more space and have to buy another Apple TV. That and $50 isn't too big of a deal.

If Apple only allowed users to upgrade an SD card or hook up a hard drive to their streaming box like Roku allows, it would have been a much simpler decision. I guess that's why Roku is the leader in streaming boxes. They're not as greedy as Apple is when it comes to allowing their hardware to be a little more flexible. It's not really hurting me. If I want I can just buy Apple's 64 GB model for safety's sake and be done with it. $200 isn't going to break the bank. I'll probably still end up using two streaming boxes as one company never completely satisfies every consumer's wishes. I'm not questioning Apple's motives for how they design their hardware. I guess they know what's important for them.

Roku needs to allow for external drives for media as they don't have the ecosystem of Apple. I never notice any lag in streaming from my iMac, which is literally on the other side of my house. Of course, my iMac is connected via Ethernet to my AirPort Extreme, which is in the middle of my house, but never a lag. The only issue is the occasional drop of Home Sharing, but that hasn't happened in a while, since I went back to AirPorts from the Comcast Gateway.

Can you download Movies and TV Series to the device? My Broadband occasionally plays up - mainly on a Saturday night when I sit down to stream a movie. I'd like to be able to download stuff in advance so I'm not at risk of streaming failures.

I think Apple is missing the big picture here. I will play video games on my Iphone or Ipad because they are mobile devices that can be played anywhere. However, if I'm sitting in front of my TV, I want to play Video games from a dedicated machine like a Xbox or PlayStation. Roku tried this approach when they brought out the Roku 3 and you could play Angry Birds or Pacman. Honestly I tried it once and never bothered again, they are now bringing out the Roku 4 and have dropped the emphases on gaming (although I believe you can still play a limited number of games). A streaming device like this is used primarily for streaming Video and I personally want to see a comparison between all the streaming boxes as too which one does that function the best, not how much RAM they contain.

Plex all the way for me on mine.. cannot WAIT to get this up and running. Plex 4 Life subscription user here. Also looking forward to seeing if KODI tries to make an App, though I suspect if they do, it won't be from the App Store.

Absolutely a deal breaker for me. I rely on optical out as my LG soundbar has no HDMI inputs, only optical in (X2).And I don't want to listen to my crappy TV speakers. Guess I'll be stuck with my ATV3 and I was so looking forward to the new model. I don't want to clutter my entertainment center with an adapter box and another power brick.

optical audio missing, Homesharing not improved/changed, no Siri for own content....not a single reason to pay $110 more (Canada price) to replace the previous generation. So happy that I can still use my 2nd gen AppleTV (with 160Gb drives) for my own content. This model had (and still has) the best interface to access my own music/movie/TV in one click + all iTunes store stuff can be completely inactivated with parental controls (unlike current gen).

"For example, when you download a new game, the App Store could only include the first five levels and keep the rest ready and waiting on the App Store's servers. As you complete level three, the App Store could download level six and remove level one. Then download level seven and remove level two, and so on."

This scheme for gaming sounds like it's not going to be very efficient. What if the user wants to go back to level one for some reason? You have to wait for it to download?

On the other side, Apple could add a reasonable amount of storage, or allow a user to add more storage. I know the later gets into an area Apple doesn't want to get into but it seems like they are dealing with gaming the same way they are dealt with the current streaming box. I think there's going to be a lot of frustrated users that want to bounce around in games.

Thats fine, the first time through. But if thats truly the case, then as I use other apps, watch movies and shows, play other games, that memory is going to be used and more memory needing to be flushed. This is going to be frustrating, I think, for some users at certain times. But, we'll see.....

I'm in the same boat, but considering Apple's practice of nickel and diming customers on storage space (driven by ASP aspirations rather than user experience) I would resent wasting the extra $50 only to later discover I didn't need it. Also irked that Apple left Home Sharing out in the cold with respect to all the new features, which seems like a crass way to promote sales and rentals of their own content. Little by little, Apple is eating away at the good faith between them and their customers. Once that's gone, then it's back to comparing features and prices without brand allegiance clouding the decision.

I didn't say Apple left out Home Sharing. I said that it appears Home Sharing has been relegated to second class status and will not work with any of the new features in the Apple TV 4 such as the Siri-powered voice interface or with the pretty new UI.

The few comments I've read from those who have access to test units suggest that the Home Sharing experience will be limited to the crappy, scrolling text list of movie titles we've had since the first Apple TV, and that none of the new features work with Home Sharing.

Meanwhile, we're bombarded with countless articles about the new Apple TV that fail to mention this.

What you say may be true, but I will withhold judgement until the device is in the wild. I'm willing to bet that most people do not have robust metadata in their video data from other sources. Personally, I am anal and do, but judging by most people I know? That could be the issue.

Usually (at least for the last year or so), it's roughly a 50% markup that gives you the Canadian price. So I would expect $200-$230.

The currency difference is actually closer to 20-30% but that's Apple for you. They have a long history of adding mysterious "extra" margins to their foreign product prices without explanation beyond the generic "prices are different in other countries" kind of spiel. If it makes you feel better the UK and Australia suffer more than Canada and get even less explanation as to why.

I disagree. Apple is actually pretty good at maintaining price parity - at least where they have local subsidiary companies, otherwise you are at the mercy of distributors who are quick to raise prices when the local exchange rates go south, and slow to lower prices when the exchange rate stabilises. I just checked Australia and for recently priced items like the new iMacs, the prices are almost spot on - adjusting for exchange rate and local taxes. Where the prices were set several months ago - like the Apple Watch - Apple hasn't imposed a price increase yet (the AU dollar is pretty bad right now), so without the local tax, the net selling price is slightly cheaper than the USA.
In Hong Kong where the exchange rate is more stable, price parity is pretty much spot on. If you are traveling to Hong Kong and want to buy a 21.5" iMac 2.8GHz, you can currently save yourself about USD $23. There's no tax in Hong Kong. Sometimes things are strange though: I'm paying the equivalent of USD $7.30 per month for my USD $9.99 creative cloud photography bundle using my RMB / USD credit card (it works with two currencies) connected to my AU Adobe account. Bonus!

Not true at all. Apple Canada periodically adjusts prices in Canada according to the exchange rate. That was done about 6 months ago as the Canadian dollar dropped relative to the US dollar. Then, as the Canadian dollar dropped further, there was a time when Apple products in Canada were actually a bit cheaper than in the US.

iPhone 6s 16GB costs $649 USD (at current exchange is $849 CDN). Actually listed at $899 CDN in Canada = $50 more in Canada. If your claim is correct, the price would be $973 CDN

Base 15" Macbook Pro costs $1999 USD (at current exchange is $2616 CDN). Actually listed at $2449 CDN in Canada = $169 LESS in Canada. Based on your claim, the price would be $2998.50 CDN

Current Apple TV costs $69 USD (at current exchange is $90.31 CDN). Actually listed at $89 CDN in Canada = $1 less in Canada. Your claim would make it $103.50 CDN

I wouldn't be so sure about blaming Apple. when I lived in Canada, some Leica cameras and lenses were being manufactured in their Midland, Ontario plant. The same plant that made Panavision movie lenses.

The really weird thing was, some of those Canadian lenses cost more than their counterparts made in Germany. And of course Leica collectors were always looking for those things made in both places. The 180 3.4 Apo Telyt was one I believe I remember what that way. And the Canadian version cost more than the German version - in Canada! (I wonder if they were sent to Germany for final finishing? That would add to the price.) Anyway, my point is, there are all sorts of rules and taxes with import/export we don't know or hear about.

On the other hand, back in the day when we could actually buy software from them, Adobe charging vastly larger sums for things in Europe vs the US were unconscionable from what I heard. And Quark's international prices? Highway robbery. (I'm aging myself with this stuff no doubt.)

Going for the 64gigs too. In a way just to see how much storage I need in the future. Better have more than you need I say.

Also, I'm keeping my current ATV just to stream music. Since they're dropping the optical (or any) audio out the new ATV is automatically a no-go for music. Who wants to have to switch the tv on every time they want to listen to some music ??

Typically, you can plug multiple HDMI cables from devices into the receivers HDMI inputs and then take the single output to the TV set. In order to get just audio from any of the HDMI cables your receiver MUST be capable of passing the audio through. Some earlier and cheaper receivers didn't do that and as such had optical inputs.

If your receiver is capable of passing audio through, just plug the ATV to your receiver via HDMI then you just need to turn your ATV and receiver on with the ATV input selected on the receiver and you will get audio out your speakers.

I see what you mean. My amp is really really old...
I might look into a splitter or check what split cables there are ... but I don't mind the extra gadget under the tv just for audio though. Wonder why they dropped the optical out?

I'm not sure whats more popular, plugging HDMI into receiver or directly to TV but they may have statistics that the optical out isn't being used enough to justify including it in the design/manufacture.

I think you are breaking it down incorrectly here by talking about the different storage needs of each type of content and then mixing them all back together in your conclusions. By your own descriptions, the only type of content that's going to require large amounts of local storage is gaming.

The 32GB version also contains 8 TIMES more storage than the current Apple TV does, which currently works fine for most people for all content except ... games (which are being added to the mix). It seems clear to me that gaming is the only thing a prospective buyer needs to focus on.

A much simpler way to put this decision is that if you think you are going to be downloading and playing a lot of games, then go for the 64GB one, if not, then the 32GB one will be much more than enough.

Aren't the "apps" on the current AppleTV actually all based on Apple's servers? I thought that was why Apple can add and remove channels to the Apple TV on a whim. If so, then quite a few apps/channels might still operate that way and they wouldn't take up any space on the Apple TV itself. Granted, those kind of apps likely won't take up much space anyway, but I'll be interested in knowing if Apple server-based will still be the norm for at least the core channels (i.e. the ones that appear to old Apple TV owners).

I don't think many people will even need the 64 because of on demand recourses. The only reason I can think of for Apple making the 64 is maybe their tv service that is still supposedly coming will have some sort of DVR.